A smart baboon - can he be as smart as a human?

By Mwiga Mambo- Tracker, Greystoke Mahale

It was on the 29-July-2010 at 09.00am coming back to Mahale from my off days; I passed by my sisters home at the Mahale mountain headquarters. I got there at a time when she was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. In the bushes around there was a big troop of yellow baboons just hanging by the kitchen and the main house area. They wanted to get something to eat; my sister knew that, and every time she left the kitchen to the main house, she closed the kitchen so that baboons would not get inside. The Baboons then decided to climb to the roof of the house to sit and watch. After she had finished preparing the breakfast, she had to pass the baboon seated a few meters away. The baboon could not bear seeing her walk by with potatoes, sugar and tea. He got up to scare her and see if she would drop the breakfast. But as she is used to baboons, my sister didn’t drop but came running inside the main house.

As that didn’t work, one adult male baboon climbed down from the roof and looked at us when we were sitting having breakfast on the veranda. He picked up a bucket with some water and started to drag it away towards the bush. I wanted to run after that baboon to get the bucket back, but my sister told me not to as that was their trick to get me away so other baboons had an opportunity to access my breakfast on the table. When he saw I was not follow him, he left the bucket and walk away into the bush and the rest of the baboons walked away to join him. No doubt, they realized they could not trick humans so easily.

I wish I hadn't witnessed this

By Lazaro George - Guide, Greystoke Mahale 

It was my first afternoon activity with guests since I got back to Mahale from my off-days. We set-off on a boat heading south of Greystoke camp. On a trip like this, we normally expect to see hippo in the water or on the shoreline; different species of fish in the lake and some other species at the river mouth to the lake. Several birds species can also been seen along the lake shores. 

One of the fish species normally seen at the river mouth—is Limnotilapia dardennei which exists in large schools. On that day we saw a few of them, and one of them, jumped into our boat. We all got amused seeing the babies’ fish coming out of their mother’s mouth. “It is a mouth-brooder”, I shouted to the guests. All guests turned to my direction to see what it was, as most of them were concentrating looking at a long-tailed cormorant, which was perching on a branch.

The fish was badly injured, including some babies, which died on the spot. The impact of that mighty jump was big, and it wasn’t surprising that some babies lay motionless with their mother. We had to pick up the adult fish and throw it back to the water, with some babies still in her mouth and alive, so that they could easily respire. Still within the vicinity of the event, we saw a big fish, Emperor Cichlid, charge in and eat the rest of the babies. We then figured out, the adult fish jumped so high and ended up getting into our boat, to escape and save her babies from the Emperor cichlid! At a point near death creatures do inconceivable things in order to save themselves.

Mitsuya playing with a rock

By Hassani Rashid, Tracker- Greystoke Mahale

Up on Kilembe Mountain, we hiked to view chimpanzees. It was around mid-afternoon when the guests got to where the chimpanzees were. Most of the chimpanzees especially adults’ chimpanzees were grooming one another under a sparse forest bushes. Besides those adults chimpanzees, were several juveniles performing all sort of plays; including running up and down trees, cycling around trees, picking and throwing woods to other peer mates, rolling, slapping and so forth. Among the playing juvenile chimpanzees we found—was Mitsuya, a ten years old orphan female. She lost her mother when she was three years old; to her family only her and her brother, Michio survived to date.

When the juveniles’ playing affair came to an end—Mitsuya walked away toward a big tree, and just before she got to the tree. She found a rock, picked it up and climbed a tree while carrying it. It was amusing watching her playing on her own with a rock. We watched her making a nest right on a crossing of braches of the tree she climbed, and when the nest is made she put the rock on it. Mitsuya did not sit still; she kept moving from branch to branch, and made the branches to swing, as a result the rock kept falling off from the nest. Every time the rock falls, Mitsuya climbed down the tree to pick it and climbed back. She did that several time, but when the group started to move away from that place, she climbed down the tree and join the rest of the group while carrying the rock. She could not walk properly on her four while carrying that rock. She then, resolved to abandoned it and catch up with the rest of the group.